The season has just started for the Strathmore Wheatland Kings, the team has had their first five games and they’re getting better and better each time they get on the ice, explained head coach Ron West.

The Kings are coming off a 5-2 loss against the Okotoks Bisons on Saturday night where the Kings managed to tie up the game in the second period, but the Bisons pulled away in the third.

About the game West said, “I do believe they are working better together as a team. We came out a little bit sluggish in the first period, came back in the second to tie it up 2-2, then proceeded to play good for the first 10 minutes of the third, and kind of watched them play at a different level for the last 10 minutes.” West noted that cost the team in the form of a few errors.

“I keep saying to them every time, it's more about watching the mistakes and trying to capitalize on theirs and limit ours, and until we do that there's going to be certain challenges against the elite teams like Okotoks,” he said.

This will be the first chance for the team to travel together on an away game against the Copperheads.

“They've been on the road against Okotoks and guys like that but going into Coaldale is definitely a whole different atmosphere. They call it the snake pit for a reason, and it's usually pretty loud in there and very aggressive,” said the coach.

“But the bus trip alone would be good for these guys. It gets them away, gets them bonding a little bit more, not just in the dressing room, but now they're bonding on the bus as well. It's always good, and I think they'll do well,” he said.

“We have a few more things to work on, but overall, I think the teams coming together I reminded them all of one thing. We’ve played five games. Five games is far from the 32, I think that we do play and we will get a lot better as we go,” he said.

The Kings are holding their own at the start of this season.

“We've played Okotoks twice and Cochrane once, and those are the two top teams in our league,” said West.

This weekend the Kings will be on the road in the first few away games. The first game is against the Coaldale Copperheads on Saturday, then on Friday, October 15 they take on the Lomond Lakers, before returning home to play the Kainai Braves on Saturday, October 16.

Keep up with the team by visiting their website at http://www.wheatlandkings.com.